Eat, Pray, Love Italy Day 4: Rome

I woke up bright and early on Saturday, got dressed and had a quick breakfast at the hostel. I was so excited about all of the things that I planned to see. I purposely saved Rome for the last part of my Italian Vacation because I wanted to spend the most time there. There is such an abundance of things to do and see and I knew that I would definitely be going out with a bang.

The first place that I wanted to visit, and probably what I was most excited about visiting, was the Roman Colosseum. I think that the things that happened in the Colosseum in ancient Rome were so crazy. Some of the events were awesome while others were just sad.Gladiator combats were held, public executions were given and wild animal hunts were performed. According to ancient writers, the entire floor of the Colosseum was once filled with water, allowing for sea battles to take place. I’ve also heard that simulations of natural scenes took place and the Colosseum ground was often remodeled to look like that of a forest. These are just some of the many things that this huge amphitheatre was used for.

Because the Colosseum is probably the biggest tourist attraction in all of Italy, I had already expected it to be crowded. I left the hostel early that morning just so that I wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the line to enter. Fortunately, it was only 15 minutes away from my hostel. I was walking down a busy street in Rome when there it was, right in front of me. It was bigger and more old-looking than I had imagined.

Standing in line wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was only there for about 20 minutes or so.When I finally entered the arena I was immediately drawn to several things all at one. The hypogeum was one of the first things I noticed. This is the bi-level network of tunnels and cages beneath the arena floor where gladiators, performers and animals were kept before the festivities began. The arena floor that once covered the hypogeum is no longer present.

Another thing that I noticed was the vastness of the arena. I could see how it was able to fit so many people back during ancient Roman times. It was four stories tall and it could accommodate up to 70,000 spectators.

In addition, I noticed that half of the upper wall of the Colosseum was missing. I originally thought that the Colosseum was naturally built this way; however, I learned that it was once completely covered by a wall but natural disasters over the centuries caused the destruction of the entire south wall. Although the Colosseum is old, grey, and rusting, it is still so fascinating. It’s not very difficult to imagine how beautiful it must have been back in ancient Rome when it was fully formed, completely covered in white and filled with several statues, arches and columns.

Although I was impressed by the inside of the Colosseum, all of the tourists flooding it made it a lot less enjoyable. After spending a decent amount of time inside I decided to get away from all of the people.

My next stop that day was the Roman Forum, which was conveniently located right next to the Colosseum. The Roman Forum was the center of the city in ancient Rome. It is where several of the government buildings were located and now contains of the ruins of them. Fortunately, the ticket that I bought to the Colosseum also gave me entrance to the Forum so I didn’t have to worry about standing in line.

I walked around the Forum for a couple of hours and examined all of the ruins. It was pretty amazing. On top of the really cool ruins of ancient buildings there were also some arches, several gardens, a cemetery and a huge sports field.It was fun to imagine how life must have been during those times. Although I didn’t walk through all parts of the Forum I eventually left because I was really suffering from allergies at that point of the day.

I was a little hungry after leaving the Forum but I didn’t want to sit at a restaurant and eat because I wanted to visit some other places before they closed so I decided to get a drink and some chips from one of the overpriced snack stands on the street. I ate my snack while facing the Forum and did some people watching.

When I was ready to walk again I decided to make my way over to my next destination: The Vatican Museums. This is one of the most important museums in the world and it contains centuries-worth of masterpieces collected by the Roman Catholic Church. It is also home to the elaborate Sistine Chapel, residence of the pope. As I entered each gallery of the Vatican museum I thought two things: 1) this is so beautiful and 2) there are way too many people here. As much as I wanted to spend a lot of time examining the painted ceilings, elegant floors and elaborate artwork, I couldn’t help but feel a bit rushed while visiting each gallery. I’m not sure whether it was because I felt like I was always in someone’s way or because I was just trying to get away from all of the people.

Although I didn’t spend a significant amount of time in each room it was still easy to see why this was one of the best museums in the world. The pieces were different from anything that I had ever seen up close. I really like the Vatican museums because, although it has such as strong connection to the Roman Catholic Church, I didn’t get a sense of Catholic overload. There were many statues and paintings related to the Greek and Roman gods, there was a significant amount of Renaissance art and there were pieces from all over the world.

I couldn’t wait to arrive to the Sistine Chapel. Being the most well-known of all the galleries, it was conveniently located at the very end of the tour. I’d already expected the chapel to be the most crowded place in the museum. Once I arrived it was so crowded, in fact, that I could hardly move. Among the hundreds of people loading into the chapel, the security guards reminding people not to talk because it is a “sacred place” and the other museum guides walking around to make sure no one took pictures, it was very difficult for me to enjoy the beauty of the chapel. I could hardly walk around without having to bump into people and I couldn’t even sit down to look at the ceiling because all of the seats were taken by people looking to rest their feet.I basically stood in one spot the whole time and tried my best to take in the beauty of the elaborate ceiling painted by Michelangelo. It was not a very comfortable position.

I would have liked to stay in the chapel longer but I just had to get away from all of those people. It’s so hard to enjoy things when you are surrounded by a multitude of tourists. It was nice to see the Sistine Chapel in person but I think that I would further appreciate looking at photos of the chapel in a book, unless the Pope decided to invite me over one day for a private tour. After the leaving the Sistine Chapel I decided that I had seen all I wanted to see in the Vatican museums and I left. Although I was a bit annoyed I still enjoyed the museums. I would love to go back in the future during a less-touristy time of the year in Rome (if that even exists).

I debated between whether or not I would see St. Peters Basilica after leaving the Vatican. I wanted to go but I was a bit tired at this point, my feet were hurting and I wasn’t exactly sure how far away from the Vatican it was located so I decided to save St. Peters for my next trip to Rome.

My next destination for the day was the Trevi Fountain which is believed to be the most beautiful fountain in Rome. After taking the metro from the Vatican Museums area back into the city I made my way over to the fountain. Once I made it to the fountain I was certain that I was at the right place because, once again, there were several tourists. The fountain was right in the middle of a small plaza. There were big statues overlooking it. The central statue was of Neptune, the god of the sea. He is riding a chariot pulled by two sea horses and each horse represents the fluctuating moods of the sea. The water in the fountain is a representation of the sea. According to legend, if you throw a coin into the water (but you have to throw it over your shoulder with your back turned) you will return to Rome.

I didn’t throw a coin into the water but I did have a good time observing the people who did. Once I got to the plaza I took a seat in front of the fountain and did some more people watching. It was sunny and beautiful that day and the mist from the water was very refreshing. I watched as people turned around to throw coins into their water, as they attempted to take pictures of themselves inside the fountain and as little mischievous children attempted to climb some of the statues. I was thinking that the only thing that would make that moment more perfect would be to have some gelato in my hand, but I didn’t see any gelato shops in the plaza and I was too lazy at that point to get up and find one. I sat around the fountain for about 45 minutes.

After relaxing at the fountain I was all burned out. But there was still one site that I wanted to visit during my last day in Rome, the Pantheon. Fortunately the Pantheon wasn’t that far away from the fountain. As I was walking down a busy street in Rome this random guy started to strike up a conversation with me. My first thought was, “no thanks,” because I thought that he was one of the thousands of people trying to sell things on the streets. But he then told me that he was from Rome and that he was just going out for a walk. He asked if he could accompany me to the Pantheon and I said OK, but I definitely kept my guard up.

We talked a little bit about Italy and about the United States. I told him that I loved some of the other cities in Italy but that it was so hard to enjoy Rome because it was so crowd infested. I believe that he took offense to that statement because he immediately snapped back and tried to attack my city. “If people go to the United States they go to New York or Los Angeles, but there’s nothing in Atlanta,” he said. After defending Atlanta I decided that I’d had enough of him. He was nice but no one talks about my city that way.

Fortunately, we had arrived to the Pantheon in no time and I walked around to get some good views of it. The Pantheon is a temple dedicated to all of the Roman gods. It’s the most preserved building in Rome and it was rebuilt two different times. Today it is a huge structure that stands in the middle of a small plaza. I decided not to go inside the Pantheon because I was a little tired and hungry, but I definitely enjoyed the outside of it. It was very beautiful.

After leaving the Pantheon I realized that I’d finally done everything that I wanted to do in Rome. I felt very accomplished and impressed that I still had so much time left in the day. I decided that the perfect way to end my time in Rome would be to have a great Italian dinner. I went back to the side of town where my hostel was located because I knew that I would probably want to crash immediately after having a big meal. I found a nice pizzeria that was about 5 minutes away from my hostel.

The waiter sat me at a table outside and I ordered pizza and wine. As I devoured the delicious sausage-stuffed pizza and sipped on the red wine I felt like I was on cloud nine. I realized that I was REALLY in Italy. I was actually living a dream of mine. I absorbed as much of the atmosphere as I could. It was an amazing feeling.

It was a good idea to pick a restaurant close to my hostel because I was so full and tired when I left; not to mention that I could barely walk at that point. I was a little upset that I didn’t have my gelato for the day but I was way too exhausted to find a shop. I went back to the hostel, showered, went over my flight itinerary for the next day and slept like a baby.

My last day in Italy was more amazing than I could have ever imagined.